Saturday, April 18, 2015

Never again would the blood of the
innocent victim, spilled in murder, cry out for vengeance, as Abel’s blood had
done; for the blood shed from before the foundation of the world had been shed
now within the world, on a particular day at a particular time, and it cried
out for mercy and forgiveness on its tormentors.

Never again would the earth be
destroyed by flood, for the promise of mercy, offered by a rainbow, was
fulfilled in darkness and terror, when the light of the sun was quenched in the
middle of the day.

Never again would God require that
a lamb, or some other young, unblemished creature, should be dragged to the
temple, or bought in the temple courts for an exorbitant price. Never again
would a man need to bring the creature, made nervous by the smell of blood, to
the priest, place his hand on its head, confess his sins over it, and watch
while the priest killed it and its blood was shed in payment for his sins, so
that he could be reconciled to God. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of
the world had been slain, and His death was sufficient for every sin that every
human being could commit. It was finished, and it was enough.

Never again would membership of God’s
people be determined by one’s physical descent from Abraham. For the identity of
the children of God was not determined by their physical birth and parentage.
Instead, they must be born again of water and the Spirit, for those who
received him, who believed in his name, had the right to become the children of
God.

Never again would those children of
God be under the bondage of the law which could not save them. For he had
nailed it to the cross, and disarmed the powers and authorities. Instead they
are called to walk in freedom, by the Spirit, bearing the beautiful fruit of
the Spirit, love in all its aspects, and so fulfilling the law as they grow to
be like their Lord.

Never again would the temple in Jerusalem
be the dwelling place of God. For he had visited and redeemed his people. He
had come to them in that upper room, where they hid away, with the sound of a
mighty rushing wind and tongues of flame, symbols that recalled Mount Sinai,
and now he would make his dwelling place in each and every one of his children.
Sinful, struggling, broken human beings would become, each one, a temple of the
Most High God.

And never again would death lord it
over the human race, for one who was altogether man (and therefore mortal), and
altogether God (and therefore perfectly holy and beyond the claims of death)
would die, grievously and terribly die, and in that dying triumph over death.
Death and the grave were defeated, for he rose from the dead to live and reign
eternally, and his life was the light of men. And those who are willing to be
crucified with Christ shall live and reign with him for all eternity.

Chaos and darkness were everywhere,
without order or meaning. Then God spoke into the darkness and said, “Let there
be light”, and there was light. It was morning.

They had fled in the night, their
staffs in their hands, their sandals on their feet, the unleavened bread
carried with them for sustenance. In the
dark they had eaten their slaughtered lambs, and waited, cowering and uncertain
in their homes with the blood-painted doorways.There had been an enormous wail
of sorrow all throughout Egypt, from Pharaoh’s palace to the lowliest hovel at
the death of the firstborn, and Pharaoh had finally consented to let them go.
They journeyed for several days, but it seemed like a long night of terror,
because of the great dread they felt towards the Egyptians who pursued them.
And that last night, while they camped at the edge of the sea, there was only a
cloud between themselves and the Egyptians. Then Moses stretched out his hand
and, right before their amazed eyes, the waters parted and a way was made
before them. They saw the salvation of God, and it was morning.

They huddled in fear. They had seen
the sun turn to darkness in the middle of the day, and their beloved Master
tortured to death. They had seen him heal the sick, they had seen him walk on
water, they had seen him silence the storm and feed a multitude with one tiny
meal. And now he hung there, on a cross, consumed by the helpless weakness of
death, and it seemed that all their hopes died with him. They had never seen
anything that looked less like freedom and victory. It was defeat, it was
hopelessness, it was the terror of what might happen next. Though the sun came
out again, and day gave way to night, gave way to day, gave way to night again,
for them it was a prison of darkness. They felt like never again would there be
a dawn that mattered.

It was the women who went out
there, before dawn, when the Sabbath was over. It was something they could do
with their grief, at least they could take his poor, mutilated body and
tenderly wrap it with the best they had to give. So out they crept, in the
greyness before dawn, and made the way to his borrowed tomb. For them it was
still the blackest of nights, and when they came and found the stone rolled
away and the tomb vacated, it seemed even darker. They did not expect to meet
with angels, they did not expect to hear the world-shattering words “He is not
here, for he is risen.” And Mary, alone with her grief in the shadowed garden,
did not expect to meet with him face to face and hear him speak her name with
the quiet, unstoppable power that calls the dead to life. He had truly risen,
conquering death, judgement and the grave with a victory that transformed the
universe. It was morning indeed.

About Me

Mother of two grown up kids,and very long time married, after many years as a full-time mum, then a part-time theological student I'm now trying to be useful in my local church whilst working out what the next step is.I'm passionate about Jesus, treasure the people in my life and dream of being a preacher. I'm a would-be poet, a slightly eccentric cook, and an INFP (which must explain something).
And I'm a pickle: a weird shaped lump of something-or-other, a bit salty, a bit sweet, definitely an acquired taste, preserved by the grace of God and trying to add a bit of flavour to the blandness of modern life.